attacks in winchester (Leesburg: real estate, schools, tax rates)

[icebaby]

Originally Posted by poohki

I just got an email from a good friend telling me of an attempted attack in the Pleasant Valley Walmart parking lot recently. It seems a woman was going out to her car from the store and spotted several hispanic men coming her way. They all attacked her and tried to get her into a car, but she was (thankfully) able to get away by throwing her gym bag at them and running back to the store screaming all the way. A man coming out of the store also came to her aid, but the gang of men sped off in their car. Police told the woman that judging by the store surveillance tapes, it looked to be gang activity. The police told the woman that part of the initiation process for a local gang is to group rape a woman and then slit her throat.

In my friends email, it states that this attack was never written about in the paper, and I don't remember seeing it on the news. So while I am not trying to scare anyone, please be very careful while at the Pleasant Valley Walmart, because this is where police say that the gang looks for their victims.

that is verry good in all do u havw a brother

[cathy J.]

Originally Posted by vacharlotte

The work I do often puts me in contact with gang prevention activities, local law enforcement, and the court system. I live and work in the Winchester area. There are 13 identified gangs in the Winchester City area including MS-13 and there is an area task force assigned to deal with the growing problem. MS-13 is known to be extremely violent and to conduct initiation activities that have been described in the local accounts. The truth is that community agencies have a vested interest in keeping gang activity reports on low profile as it is bad for business so to speak. This is not just our community but nationwide. You will often see crimes in the news involving young people where they report that the motive is unknown. But the crime style described is very much a "gang" style crime. The recent killing of a football star suggests gang style home invasion. A recent story appearing in Fox news concerning a 60 year old woman who was attacked by two boys in her home while two girls stood outside as lookout sounds like gang style initiation. Niether of these stories was listed by any official news reporting agency as gang related. However to the trained eye and to those who watch these activities it sends off alarm bells. What is the motive of local law enforcement and media in keeping things under their hats? Many times it is to keep local panic and vigilantism to a minimum. In addition, public knowledge may actually hamper investigation.
Are these reports true? I don't know. However, I had a discussion with an individual today from the local law enforcement/juvenile justice end of things. They warned me to be aware of my surroundings due to increased gang activity particularly the gang MS-13. Using caution and being aware of surroundings will not hurt any of us.

The interesting thing about the gang problem in Winchester is that for a number of years Winchester ( and Frederick County ) denied that such things exist there.

Years ago I had a coversation with the now deceased Stewart Bell who was for a number of years the mayor of Winchester. I remember him saying that no matter how big the Winchester area gets, they will still think of themselves as "Mayberry, North Carolina". I see his point.

For example a few years ago the Winchester-Frederick County region was upgraded to a full fledge "metro area". But you don't hear the words "Metro Winchester" the same as one hears the words "Metro Harrisonburg" or "Metro Hagerstown". From what I heard thats the way the city of Winchester wants it.

It took Winchester years to learn that area has a fast growing hispanic population. Enough so that the city sported a hispanic radio station at one point. It was hard not to notice with the large number of Hispanic grocery stores opening up around town but to those who run Winchester, they didn't existed. Its changed now of course but it was not always the case.

On the issue of crime besides the gang problem a big problem back in the 1990s was illegal sexual activity going on at Jim Barnett Park, again Winchester denied this was going on even though most of the people in the area knew it did. Had it not been for the the local newspapers exposing this story, this would still be a problem today.

After reading the Star story about the incident at Wal-Mart, say if it was gang related, unless omeone actually got killed as a result, I wouldn't past Winchester saying it did NOT happen. "...oh it can't happen here because we are this tiny little mountain village in the Shenandoah Valley..."

[vacharlotte]

Cathy you are absolutely correct. I've lived here for 20 years and there is a pattern of denial of local problems. However, I would like to state that most latino/latina families are living here in the valley peacefully. They have come to give their families a better way of life. They work hard and make good friends and neighbors. In fact the latino population has one of the lowest incidences of juvenile crime in the region. I have the good fortune to call many latino newcomers to the area friend. And by the way... there is prevention in a friendly approach. One of the reason that teens and young people join gangs to begin with is to feel as though they belong. Those of us that have been in the valley for a while or all our lives would due well to get to know our neighbors. The Valley is home to a large Christian population. We would due well to take our cues from Christ in how we approach our new neighbors. Treat others.. how we wish to be treated!

[CNI]

I don't live in Winchester, I am not familiar with local media news reports, etc. However, this gang initiation claim did sound familiar to an e-mail forward I received. I've pasted it below.
After receiving the forward I went to the internet address www.snopes.com where many myths are investigate and proven false. The link for the snopes investigation of the specific myth forwarded to me is http://www.snopes.com/crime/gangs/memphis.asp

I am not saying that the original post is false...just saying that it sounds familiar.

Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
Ladies be careful and prayerful --
Subject: Gangs at Target and WalMart
Not a joke. Be careful!!! This came from the Houston Police Department.
Apparently, they are now in Richmond.
ANYONE WHO SHOPS AT WAL-MART or TARGET!!!!!!
There is a new gang out called The MG. They are a Mexican gang. They go to Target and Wal-Mart to look for black females, young or old
They get into the gang by killing a black female. They are currently in Arundel County, Prince George & Washington D.C. There is no telling! when they will be in this area. Therefore, please be aware of your surroundings when going to these locations. Whenever possible take a male or another female with you. This gang is dangerous, they do not hold out, they will not hesitate to take your life or the life of your loved ones.PASS THIS ON TO ALL BLACK FEMALES (AND MALES) THIS IS NOT A GAME! PLEASE BE CAREFUL
Mrs. ****************
Houston Police Department
Forensic Audio/Video Service Unit
(713)**********Ofc.
(713)**********Cell.

DON'T KNOW IF THIS IS TRUE OR NOT, BETTER SAFE THAN SORRY!
Date: Wed, 10 Jan 2007 08:05:08 -0800 (PST)
You've GOT to read this,..... this happened to someone name Janet
********,... she then sent out the Email to warn others.
A new safety issue we need to be aware of:
I just wanted to let you all know of something that happened to me today in the Target parking lot. Be aware of this and let everyone you know be aware so this does not happen to anyone else.
I was at Target today to return something which only took a couple of minutes. When I pulled into the parking lot a man in a car pulled in a couple spaces down from me. He started to go into the store about the same time as I did, then turned back around and went back to his car. I went into Target returned my items and walked back out to get into my car. When I walked out, he was walking away from my car carrying a small gas can. I noticed there was fluid on the side of my car and a puddle beside it. I got into my car not sure of what happened, wrote down his license plate # and left. He followed me out of the parking lot.
I was only able to drive about a half a mile and my car started acting funny. It died on me as I was driving and I was able to pull into an area business along the highway. I just sat in my car and called the police. The man drove by three times as I waited. The police who came took a report and said that he had poured sugar water into my gas tank which is what made my car stall. It was a great way to get a woman by herself to be stranded on the streets. Luckily for me I was able to stop where there were people around. The police know where the car came from and are working on this now. Not sure what will happen but my car is now in the shop not running, but it could have been much worse for me. Just be aware that this is happening and always be aware of your surroundings. It certainly scared me and I am grateful that nothing else happened.
Please pass this on to your wife, church member and friends.....

[Rhett_Butler]

Originally Posted by CNI

I don't live in Winchester, I am not familiar with local media news reports, etc. However, this gang initiation claim did sound familiar to an e-mail forward I received. I've pasted it below.
After receiving the forward I went to the internet address www.snopes.com where many myths are investigate and proven false. The link for the snopes investigation of the specific myth forwarded to me is http://www.snopes.com/crime/gangs/memphis.asp

I am not saying that the original post is false...just saying that it sounds familiar.

Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
Ladies be careful and prayerful --
Subject: Gangs at Target and WalMart
Not a joke. Be careful!!! This came from the Houston Police Department.
Apparently, they are now in Richmond.
ANYONE WHO SHOPS AT WAL-MART or TARGET!!!!!!
There is a new gang out called The MG. They are a Mexican gang. They go to Target and Wal-Mart to look for black females, young or old
They get into the gang by killing a black female. They are currently in Arundel County, Prince George & Washington D.C. There is no telling! when they will be in this area. Therefore, please be aware of your surroundings when going to these locations. Whenever possible take a male or another female with you. This gang is dangerous, they do not hold out, they will not hesitate to take your life or the life of your loved ones.PASS THIS ON TO ALL BLACK FEMALES (AND MALES) THIS IS NOT A GAME! PLEASE BE CAREFUL
Mrs. ****************
Houston Police Department
Forensic Audio/Video Service Unit
(713)**********Ofc.
(713)**********Cell.

DON'T KNOW IF THIS IS TRUE OR NOT, BETTER SAFE THAN SORRY!
Date: Wed, 10 Jan 2007 08:05:08 -0800 (PST)
You've GOT to read this,..... this happened to someone name Janet
********,... she then sent out the Email to warn others.
A new safety issue we need to be aware of:
I just wanted to let you all know of something that happened to me today in the Target parking lot. Be aware of this and let everyone you know be aware so this does not happen to anyone else.
I was at Target today to return something which only took a couple of minutes. When I pulled into the parking lot a man in a car pulled in a couple spaces down from me. He started to go into the store about the same time as I did, then turned back around and went back to his car. I went into Target returned my items and walked back out to get into my car. When I walked out, he was walking away from my car carrying a small gas can. I noticed there was fluid on the side of my car and a puddle beside it. I got into my car not sure of what happened, wrote down his license plate # and left. He followed me out of the parking lot.
I was only able to drive about a half a mile and my car started acting funny. It died on me as I was driving and I was able to pull into an area business along the highway. I just sat in my car and called the police. The man drove by three times as I waited. The police who came took a report and said that he had poured sugar water into my gas tank which is what made my car stall. It was a great way to get a woman by herself to be stranded on the streets. Luckily for me I was able to stop where there were people around. The police know where the car came from and are working on this now. Not sure what will happen but my car is now in the shop not running, but it could have been much worse for me. Just be aware that this is happening and always be aware of your surroundings. It certainly scared me and I am grateful that nothing else happened.
Please pass this on to your wife, church member and friends.....

Thanks for this... Yeah, there really must be some kind of internet fear campaign going on.... Again, not to say there isn't a gang problem, but there's no need to terrify everyone IMO.

[at3]

Well, maybe everyone doesn't have a brain. This was SPAM. It is not hispanic related. In fact, if you are really curious why don't you check out the demographics for robberies in Winchester. It is not hispanic, but usually middle aged white and black men. Everyone is afraid of their own shadow here. Yes, we do have immigration problem; we do have integration issues; and we do have racist issues. But give me a break on this one, a whole community being misled by SPAM, because they are so afraid of Hispanics, I thought we would better than this mess.

[spettey]

I was attacked on good friday at walmart in pascagoula, ms.

The man tried to stab me with a screwdriver, choked me and beat me.

Walmart said I was out of camera range. One of the employees came up on the scene, while the police were questioning me and picked up the screwdriver thus contaminating it with his fingerprints.

Walmart does not care. They have never contacted me. I will have to pay my hospital bills and thats ok because that bastard didnt get the best of me that day.

Be careful and dont think daylight makes you safe....it was 2:30 in the afternoon and I was there to buy easter baskets for my children.

[Rhett_Butler]

Sorry to hear about that... Sounds horrible.

I do have a question though..... Why do you feel WalMart is in any way responsible for what happened to you???

[thomast23]

I am looking to move to Winchester VA, however, according to crime stats, Winchester rates a 6 out of 10 on violent crime and property thefts. Compared to where I live now (town of 64,000) our ratings are 2 and 3 respectively.

Could someone in Winchester comment on these stats?

[Rhett_Butler]

Is it for the city, or the surrounding county as well???